Porter Chops Glasper is the first in a series of instrumental albums planned from Grammy Award-winning artist Denaun Porter, the producer working as “Mr. Porter” for the likes of hip-hop’s Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Busta Rhymes and Snoop Dogg, and worldwide icons like Burt Bacharach, Beyonce and Shakira.

The album is inspired by the music of fellow Grammy Award-winning jazz musician Robert Glasper. Porter explains, “Long story short, I am a fan of Robert Glasper. This project contains samples of music of his from the internet, official releases, and even live performances I saw on YouTube. Porter Chops is a representation of when, I feel, the business side of things interfere too much with my creative process.”

In other words, this project represents an emotional release for the Detroit bred admirer of the late J Dilla, who explains that the Detroit icon was most impressed when Porter, “too broke to buy all the records (Dilla) did, chopped up as many beats as I could make out of one.” He further explains: “The first time I got (Dilla’s) attention was because of the way I chopped a Minnie Ripperton sample. The sample was very familiar. It was actually the same sample that A Tribe Called Quest used for

Limited edition 7-inch EP, originally made for Madlib’s San Francisco, June 7, 2013.

Limited edition 7-inch single with 5 instrumental hip-hop tracks produced by Madlib. This record is the first release from Madlib’s forthcoming Rock Konducta album, the latest in his Beat Konducta series. Rock Konducta‘s primary inspiration comes from Africa’s vibrant rock scene in the 1970s.

This 45 was originally produced for Madlib’s San Francisco show in June 2013. Only 100 copies were made in time for the show, from a total of 500. We have some of the remaining copies here, in stock and ready to ship. This is strictly vinyl. No digital or CD.

Madlib has championed Zamrock’s heroes on his Beat Konducta in Africa (sampling from the likes of WITCH and Paul Ngozi); he and the rapper formerly known as Mos Def have been discussing a trip to Zambia to record a collaborative album.

Egon’s column Funk Archaeology has picked up again at redbullmusicacademy.com. The series begins again with a collection of prog rock dug up in Australia while on tour with Madlib & J Rocc.

I was looking forward to a four-city Australia tour with Madlib and J.Rocc last October. I’d never been, and the opportunity to get paid to DJ – and to visit the country’s four main cities alongside record-collecting pals – seemed like the perfect way to spend a week. Of course, there would be the requisite exercise in the restrained hedonism of good food and good drink. And I’d thoroughly schooled myself beforehand: knowing that one of the new world’s finest old-world style wines hailed from South Australia – Penfolds Grange, a Rhone-styled wine made primarily from Australia’s favorite grape, shiraz – I was looking forward to exploring off-the-beaten-path Aussie wines, and I figured that at least Madlib would be up for the challenge. So we allowed our wine rider – possibly the most complex two pages in a five-page document – to be altered to focus on the local juice.

So imagine my surprise when I found J.Rocc – not the most easily impressed by the wines found backstage on a Madlib Medicine Tour stop – enjoying a glass or two. And imagine my chagrin to find that both he and Madlib, my stalwart digging partner, laughed me away when I told them of my plans to spend my off-hours finding the great records that I was sure Australia would offer. It started shortly after we landed, during a bleary-eyed brunch at a smart-looking downtown Brisbane caf

As they’ve done since 2010, the friends at Adult Swim are rolling out a compilation of previously unreleased music with its Summer Singles Program. Singles will include a new Madlib, Freddie Gibbs & Karriem Riggins collaboration as well as Captain Murphy & MF DOOM collab.

One of our favorite publications, Lodown Magazine, has released a free iPad version of the magazine. One of their new features collects a bunch of polaroids I made in the 1990s-early 00s. Here’s a couple of them. Check out the rest via http://www.lodownmagazine.com/ipad/

MADLIB, LOS ANGELES, 2001. This is on the back patio of the house Stones Throw had just moved into where Madlib set up studio in a 50s-era bomb shelter. He sidestepped hip-hop for most the year to work on his Yesterdays New Quintet project.

FOOTSIES, LOS ANGELES, 2000. I used to go in this dive bar where a couple dusty old men sat watching TV, where the 80-year old bartender/owner acted like he’d rather I leave than get up and sell me a beer. Eventually I made friends with the guy when I put this photo on the back of an album cover and thanked “Footsies” in the liner notes. He died soon after, and the bar was refashioned into a place where people hang out and try to look cool. Like countless other amateur photographers, I got a digital camera around this time, inadvertently putting an end to my Polaroid film purchases. But where have the past 10 years of digital photos gone? Probably lost or deleted on hard drives of the past.